Y580 SD Card Reader and USB 3.0 ports

I was just running a benchmark to see how the internal SD card reader does against the Lexar USB 3.0 Dual-Slot Reader, a known fast USB 3.0 card reader. I am happy to say that the internal card reader is only slightly slower than the Lexar when using a Patriot EP UHS-1 card.

However I discovered that the USB 3.0 ports are not created equal. I have a 2 week old Y580 ordered from Lenovo direct. I have 3 blue ports and 1 black. Only the blue port on the right is a "Super-Speed USB 3.0 port." Windows reports that the device can transfer information faster if I were plugged into a Super-Speed USB 3.0 port if I plug my Lexar card reader in either port on the left side.

My quick test results are as follows, I only ran the left port test 2x, the first results were suspect:

Code:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
CrystalDiskMark 3.0.2 x64 (C) 2007-2012 hiyohiyo
                           Crystal Dew World : http://crystalmark.info/
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
* MB/s = 1,000,000 byte/s [SATA/300 = 300,000,000 byte/s]

           Sequential Read :    50.658 MB/s
          Sequential Write :    38.565 MB/s
         Random Read 512KB :    50.221 MB/s
        Random Write 512KB :     4.393 MB/s
    Random Read 4KB (QD=1) :     5.281 MB/s [  1289.3 IOPS]
   Random Write 4KB (QD=1) :     0.174 MB/s [    42.6 IOPS]
   Random Read 4KB (QD=32) :     6.111 MB/s [  1492.0 IOPS]
  Random Write 4KB (QD=32) :     0.191 MB/s [    46.7 IOPS]

  Test : 1000 MB [E: 0.0% (0.0/14.9 GB)] (x1)
  Date : 2012/11/19 14:38:07
    OS : Windows 7 Home Premium Edition SP1 [6.1 Build 7601] (x64)
  Internal reader + 16GB Patriot EP
  
=======================================================================
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
CrystalDiskMark 3.0.2 x64 (C) 2007-2012 hiyohiyo
                           Crystal Dew World : http://crystalmark.info/
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
* MB/s = 1,000,000 byte/s [SATA/300 = 300,000,000 byte/s]

           Sequential Read :    52.062 MB/s
          Sequential Write :    40.022 MB/s
         Random Read 512KB :    47.951 MB/s
        Random Write 512KB :     6.081 MB/s
    Random Read 4KB (QD=1) :     5.107 MB/s [  1246.9 IOPS]
   Random Write 4KB (QD=1) :     0.278 MB/s [    67.9 IOPS]
   Random Read 4KB (QD=32) :     5.925 MB/s [  1446.4 IOPS]
  Random Write 4KB (QD=32) :     0.183 MB/s [    44.8 IOPS]

  Test : 1000 MB [H: 0.0% (0.0/14.9 GB)] (x1)
  Date : 2012/11/19 14:52:17
    OS : Windows 7 Home Premium Edition SP1 [6.1 Build 7601] (x64)
  Lexar USB3.0 reader + 16GB Patriot EP in right blue port
  
=======================================================================

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
CrystalDiskMark 3.0.2 x64 (C) 2007-2012 hiyohiyo
                           Crystal Dew World : http://crystalmark.info/
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
* MB/s = 1,000,000 byte/s [SATA/300 = 300,000,000 byte/s]

           Sequential Read :    42.771 MB/s
          Sequential Write :    17.421 MB/s
         Random Read 512KB :    41.188 MB/s
        Random Write 512KB :     3.430 MB/s
    Random Read 4KB (QD=1) :     4.658 MB/s [  1137.2 IOPS]
   Random Write 4KB (QD=1) :     0.251 MB/s [    61.4 IOPS]
   Random Read 4KB (QD=32) :     5.404 MB/s [  1319.3 IOPS]
  Random Write 4KB (QD=32) :     0.335 MB/s [    81.7 IOPS]

  Test : 1000 MB [H: 0.0% (0.0/14.9 GB)] (x1)
  Date : 2012/11/19 14:59:04
    OS : Windows 7 Home Premium Edition SP1 [6.1 Build 7601] (x64)
   Lexar USB3.0 reader + 16GB Patriot EP in left port
   
=======================================================================

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
CrystalDiskMark 3.0.2 x64 (C) 2007-2012 hiyohiyo
                           Crystal Dew World : http://crystalmark.info/
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
* MB/s = 1,000,000 byte/s [SATA/300 = 300,000,000 byte/s]

           Sequential Read :    42.754 MB/s
          Sequential Write :    35.478 MB/s
         Random Read 512KB :    40.933 MB/s
        Random Write 512KB :     7.939 MB/s
    Random Read 4KB (QD=1) :     4.538 MB/s [  1108.0 IOPS]
   Random Write 4KB (QD=1) :     0.272 MB/s [    66.3 IOPS]
   Random Read 4KB (QD=32) :     5.286 MB/s [  1290.4 IOPS]
  Random Write 4KB (QD=32) :     0.288 MB/s [    70.2 IOPS]

  Test : 1000 MB [H: 0.0% (0.0/14.9 GB)] (x1)
  Date : 2012/11/19 15:04:45
    OS : Windows 7 Home Premium Edition SP1 [6.1 Build 7601] (x64)
     Lexar USB3.0 reader + 16GB Patriot EP in left port

 

I just found the solution to my problem. The cable I was using only seems to like the port on the right. However I can use the cable that the card reader came with in all of my USB 3.0 ports without Windows telling me that my transfers will go faster in a super speed port.

 

Nice findings.
I for one appreciate the work you did on this as I use a lot of SD cards in my workflow.
+1 Rep